Krag-Dilosis Fever
by SonicGirl4Ever
Summary: One of the Guardians is sick with a terrible illness. Can the rest of the team help?


Peter hastily searched for a cup or glass in the kitchen aboard the Milano. He rummaged through a few cabinets before finding a tall glass, and then briskly grabbed a pitcher of water, pouring some of the liquid into the glass.  
He quickly walked back to one of the bedrooms and stepped inside. The horrid sounds of heavy breathing filled his ears, and he moved in between Gamora and Groot to kneel down in front of the bed in which the smallest Guardian of the Galaxy was laying on.

Rocket looked terrible. His fur was matted from excessive sweat, due to his dangerously high fever. He was taking in deep breaths at an alarming rate, and he was shivering vigorously from either feeling too hot or too cold – they didn't know for sure.

Gamora pressed a damp rag against his head, and he jerked away instantly, groaning in between his raspy breathing. Her face was one of worry, and neither Peter or Groot had seen her look so upset.  
Groot had been standing behind Gamora, towering over all that entered the small bedroom. His face was one of worry, also.  
Peter brought the glass of water closer to Rocket.  
"Rocket, buddy? You want some water? It might help."  
He didn't seem to hear Peter, and continued to shiver, gripping the sheets and thrashing his head from side to side.  
"It's so hot," he said in a raspy, exhausted voice. "It's so _damn _hot."

Gamora turned to Peter, and he swore he saw tears threatening to leak out of her eyes.  
"Quill, we aren't helping. We need to take him somewhere that has _someone _who can cure him. Xandar, the Nova Corps – anywhere."  
Peter sighed, knowing that she was right. They didn't even know what kind of sickness Rocket was suffering from, but multiple times the name 'Krag-Dilosis Fever' had come up between the others when referring to Rocket's condition. It was just a guess, but it was the only lead they had.

He bit his lip and rubbed his nose standing up and heading over to the captain's seat, where Drax was currently seated.  
"Drax, set a course for Xandar. The Nova Corps are all we have."  
The Destroyer mumbled a reply before imputing the coordinates of Xandar. It would be a few hours until they reached the planet, but at least they were going to get help.

There was suddenly an unexplained terrified scream coming from the bedroom. Both men turned around, and Peter immediately rushed to the room, only to find Gamora staring at Rocket in horror and Groot standing over Rocket with the same look of horror.  
"No! No, stop! Aaaugh!"  
Quill rushed up and kneeled next to the bed, grabbing Gamora's shoulder to get her attention. She tore her stare away from Rocket and looked at Peter. It was evident that she was close to tears, and they were wide with shock and horror.

"Gamora, what going on?!"  
She shook her head and glanced back at Rocket, who was thrashing wildy, although his arms and legs didn't move.  
"I – I don't know! He just started screaming! I think he's hallucinating!"  
Rocket let out another yowl, twisting his head side to side, as if he were in pain.  
"Please! No! Don't do this!"  
Peter grabbed the glass of water that was on the table nearby and threw the water all over Rocket, who stopped screaming and collapsed.

Gamora's response was almost immediate. She slapped Peter hard across the face, sending him reeling over to the right. He stumbled and caught himself, and gently touched his hand to his now stinging face.  
"What the _hell, _Gamora?!"  
She thrust her finger at Peter angrily, glaring daggers at him.  
"No, I should be saying that to _you! _What are you _thinking?!_"  
He pointed over to Rocket, and she slowly turned to look at him. Her friend was back to weakly groaning, seemingly too tired to even move.

"I was thinking that cold water would make him snap out of it."  
She shook her head and pushed past Peter, and the tears fell freely from her eyes as she stormed out of the room.

When the Milano finally landed on Xandar, Peter attempted to scoop up Rocket in his arms and take him to the Nova Corps. He twisted and turned, muttering for him to 'stop' and occasionally whimpering 'let me go'.  
Peter held him close to his chest, trying to get him to calm down.  
"Easy, easy," he whispered as he stepped down from the ship with Gamora, Drax, and Groot. "No one's gonna hurt you."

They were about to walk into the Nova Corps building when they were stopped by a Nova Corps ship. The pilot spoke through the intercom.  
"Halt! This is—"  
Drax stepped up and gestured to Rocket.  
"Our small friend here is ill. We need assistance from the Nova Corps."  
It took the guard seconds to realize he was speaking to a Guardian of the Galaxy.  
"Access granted."  
The ship moved aside and the team briskly walked into the lobby of the Nova Corps.

"Hello? We need a little help here!"  
The Nova Prime stepped over to them, a look of annoyance and a bit of anger evident on her face.  
"Why are you barging into the Nova headquarters crying out for—"  
Her eyes immediately softened when she heard heavy breathing coming from behind Gamora. She peeked over and gasped when she saw Rocket shivering and gripping onto Peter's jacket.  
"What's happened?"  
Peter shook his head.  
"He's sick, and we need help from a professional, like maybe those guys who checked us over after we killed Ronan."  
She nodded and motioned for them to follow her.

Peter followed Nova Prime down endless hallways until they reached a large room with a medical table in the center. Peter didn't like the look of the place, and he knew Rocket would be hard to keep calm in a setting like this.  
"Place him there. I'll be back with a doctor."

She left, and Peter hesitantly brought Rocket to the table. At that moment, Rocket opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He gasped and weakly tried to scramble out of Peter's arms.  
"No, _no, _NO, _NO please _don't do this!"  
Peter set him down onto the table, and Rocket immediately tried to get up and run. He held him down gently, and spoke to him softly.  
"Rocket. Rocket, listen to me. _No one_ _is going to hurt you_. It's gonna be alright."

A team of doctors in lab coats walked into the room, and briskly walked over to the table. Rocket shivered and fought against Peter, weakly bucking and arching this way and that. One of the doctors grabbed Peter's arm and looked at him with a look that said 'trust me'.  
He slowly nodded and released Rocket, and the doctor held down Rocket instead.

"No! No! Let me go!"  
He thrashed, and was about to scream when the doctor began to soothingly pet his head. He was now only shivering and groaning, and the Nova Prime ushered them out of the room.  
"No," Gamora said. "We can't leave him."  
Peter touched her arm.  
"Gamora, they –"  
She whirled on him, her voice dripping with venom.  
"You _know _how he is around doctors. You _know _it scares him. We can't leave him."  
Peter looked her in the eyes with a tired and desperate look.  
"They've got it, Gamora. They know what they're doing."

"Aaaugh!"  
There was a crash from inside the room, and Gamora was about to push open the doors and rush inside, but Drax grabbed her.  
"You _fool! _What are you doing?!"  
He shook his head as the doctors began to talk loudly to each other from inside.  
"He's hallucinating!"  
"Sedate him!"  
For a few more moments, Rocket screamed. He let out a final scream, and then they died down to whimpers.  
Everyone outside the room was silent. They listened to the doctors talking among themselves.

"His heart rate is high, as is his temperature."  
"It looks to me like Krag-Dilosis Fever."  
"Sounds about right, what with the hallucinations and all."  
"Watch his back; there are cybernetics all over."  
They stayed like that for a while, and when the doctors came back out, they pushed Rocket out on a hovering bed. He was sleeping soundly, his chest rising and falling in a peaceful sleep.

"We gave him a proper vaccine. He should be showing signs of improvement within the next 24 hours. Did anyone here get scratched or bitten?"  
All shook their heads.  
"Good. Krag-Dilosis Fever travels through blood. As long as you didn't get an open wound from him while he was affected, you won't need the vaccine."

Gamora went over to the bed Rocket was laying and gently stroked his head.

Rocket would be okay. 


End file.
